Episode 1415: You Can't Predict Baseball
Date August 10, 2019 Summary Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Bo Bichette fun facts vs. Travis Demeritte fun facts, Javier Báez batting left-handed against a position player and why the shift appears to be exempt from unwritten rules, and umpire perfect games, then (30:46) talk to The Athletic’s New York Yankees beat writer Lindsey Adler about how to explain the team’s injury-riddled yet somehow ultra-successful season. Topics * Interview with Lindsey Adler * New York Yankees' 2019 success despite injuries * Impact of coaching staff on the pitchers * Lack of trade deadline activity * DJ LeMahieu * Easy strength of schedule * Who will continue to contribute? * Getting production from quad-A players * How the fanbase has reacted * Who deserves the credit for keeping the team competitive? * Clint Frazier and Mike Tauchman * CC Sabathia's constant pain Intro The Pretenders, "Almost Perfect" Interstitial James Brown, "I Refuse to Lose" Outro Bing Crosby, "Out of Nowhere" Banter * Meg is currently getting over a cold, she and Ben will be recording a live episode in Boston at Saber Seminar. * Ben and Meg discuss the merits of recent fun facts involving Travis Demeritte and Bo Bichette. The alleged fun fact about Dermeritte is that he is the first player with 6+ walks and 2+ triples in his first 8 games since 1983. Bo Bichette is the first player since Ted Williams to have an extra base hit in 9 straight games. * Ben and Meg are surprised that Javy Baez was shifted when batting left-handed against Kyle Farmer, a position player. They wonder why shifting seems to be exempt from the unwritten rules. * Ben recalls an unwritten rules incident with Brian Dozier discussed in Episode 1198. At the time Sam Miller wrote about how unwritten rules are less about respect and more about getting the other team to play sub-optimally. * Umpire perfect games and the difficulty of calling balls and strikes * Umpire mechanics * Would you tune in to watch an umpire perfect game? Notes * Bo Bichette is the only player in the modern era to double in 9 straight games. * Since 2008 there have been 24 games where the umpire was perfect for one team. There has not been a game where every pitch call was correct. * There are an average of 156 pitch calls per MLB game. Umpires get 88.5% of calls correct. * Lindsey sticks to the prediction she made in Episode 1351 and believes the Yankees will win 105 games this season. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 1415: You Can't Predict Baseball * Bo Bichette accomplishes feat last done by Ted Williams in 1939 by Bill Baer * With catcher on mound, Javy bats...lefty? by Mark Sheldon and Jordan Bastian * Shift against left-handed Javy Baez * Brian Dozier whining about a bunt is all about trying to gain an edge by Sam Miller * The Pursuit of the Elusive Umpire Perfect Game by Ben Lindbergh * The Compassionate Umpire by John Walsh * Gleyber Torres is the Yankees' Last Man Standing by Jay Jaffe * Yankees winning with backup stars by Mike Petriello Category:Episodes Category:Guest Episodes